Automatic liquid-measuring appliance



LE ROY M. SMITH.

AUTOMATIC LIQUID MEASURING APPLIANCE. 4

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 21, 191B.

1,335,800, PatentedApr. 6,1920.

Eye/7601a L8 MKS/711%;

LE ROY M. SMITH, OF CHICAGQILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC LIQUID-MEASURING APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

' Application filed November 21, 1918. Serial No. 263,493.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Ln RoY M. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in anAutomatic Liquid-Measuring Appliance; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it a-ppertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to appliances for measuring out predetermined quantities of a liquid, its general object being ,to provide a simple and inexpensive appliance of this kind which can readily be attached to any suitable container and which may easily be manipulated by the bringing into its proper position of the receptacle which is to be filled. Further and more detailed objects will appear from the following specificw tion and from the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a central and vertical section through a liqud measuring appliance embodying my invention, showing the parts in their normal position.

Fig. 2 is a similar section showing the parts as they appear when emptying the measuring receptacle into a bottle. I

Fig. 3 is afragmentary elevation of the lower end'portion of my appliance, taken from the right hand side of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4L is a horizontal section through the appliance of Fig. 1, taken along the line Fig. 5' is a central and fragmentary section of'the lower end portion of the valve member of the appliance.

Inthe embodiment of the drawings, the appliance of my invention includes a tube 1, which is desirably vertical in position and which is suitably connected at its upper end to a source of liquid such as a tank 2. Surrounding a portion of the length of the tube 1 intermediate of its ends and secured at its lower end to this tubeis a tunnel or which slidably the bore of the tube 1 and which has its aperture normally disposed below edges of the inlet perforations 6. This valve member desirably consists of a metal cylinder 8 having-a packing ring or gasket 9 clamped upon its lower end by a collar on a screw threaded into the metal cylinder 8, the cylinder being imperforate and substantially equal in length to the distances between the tops of the upper and the lower ports. The screw lO-also has a stem 11 extending downwardly for some distance beyond this collar, and the stem 11 is secured at its lower end to a crossbar12. This crossbar is longer than the diameter of the tube 1 and projects at both ends through opposed longitudinal slots 13 in the portion of the tube extending below the funnel. The gasket 9 is of a larger diameter than the bore of the seating ring 7 in the tube, so that normally this gasket rests upon the top of the said ring and acts as a. seal to prevent possible leakage.

Assuming the parts to be in the position of Fig. 1, the filling of the tank with liquid will cause some of this liquidto enter the funnel through the inlet opening 6, the air within the funnel being expelled through a riser tube 14 carried by the cover 1 and desirably extending alongside of the tank 2. This riser tube is desirably quite small in diameter so that the difference in the amount of liquid contained it when the liquid in the tank is at different levels will be practically negligible in proportion to the total contents of the annular measuring container,'na-mely the container bounded by the bore of the funnel, the'portion of the tube housedby the funnel, and the cover of the funnel,

In using my appliance, the receptacle which is to be filled, such as the bottle 15' of Fig.2, is brought under the lower or outlet end of tube 1 and is lifted so as to raise the crossbar 12, thereby raising the cylinder 8 into the position of Fig. 2, or into a position in which this cylinder uncovers the lower apertures 5 but closes-the upper apertures 6. With the cylinder of valve member in this raised position, the liquid in the said annular measuring portion of my appliance, will empty into the bottle, while the funnel will be filled with air entering the vent tube let. Then on Withdrawing the bottle, the cylinder or valve member 8 Will follow by gravity, thereby closing the lower or outlet apertures and opening the inlet apertures 6, as in Fig. l, whereupon the annular measuring portion of my appliance will again automatically be filled with liquid from the tank.

To insure a suflicient raising of the valve member for completely covering the inlet openings 6, I desirably make the longitudinal slots 13 of a suitable length, so that the upper ends of these slots can serve as stops for the crossbar 12 when the latter is raised. Consequently, the operator merely needs to raise the bottle until the upper slot ends stop the crossbar, thereby avoiding any uncertainty or waste of time. I also desirably cut off the lower end of the tube 1 at an oblique angle, so as to aiford a drip tip as shown in the drawings. However, while I have illustrated and described my appliance as including a single tube extending entirely through the funnel shaped outer portion and terminating in an oblique tip, I do not wish to be limited to these or other details of the construction and arrange ment here disclosed, it being obvious that the same might be modified in many ways .without departing from the spirit of my invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

Moreover, since the operation of my appliance is entirely automatic and responsive to the simple operation of raising and lowering the bottle or other receptacle which is to be filled, my invention readily lends itself to the speedy and accurate measuring of liquids into groups of bottles or the like. That is to say, by attaching a group of my appliances to a tank of liquid, suitably spaced bottles may be supported on a tray and simultaneously raised and lowered by means of apparatus familiar to those accustomed to the handling of liquids. In this way, one tray full of bottles after another may have the desired quantities of liquid measured into the bottles with good com mercial accuracy, without any spilling of liquid, and at a speed which permits an eX- ceedingly low cost for this filling of measured quantities into the bottles.

Furthermore, while I have spoken of my appliance as used for dispensing liquids in general, it will be suitable not onl for freely flowing liquids but also for liqulds of high viscosity, or even for solids in finely divided or granular form. lVhere the liquid to be measured out is of highly viscous na- 1 ture, I desirably make the funnel or other i'neasuring container of a capacity exceeding the desired quantity by the amount which will tenaciously adhere to the interior of this container. Then in using the appliance, the valve is kept in its raised position only until the liquid stops flowing freely, leaving the excess within the funnel each time as this excess is fairly constant in practice.

I claim as my invention:

l..In a liquid measuring appliance, a substantially vertical tube, an annular container secured to and housing a medial portion of the tube, the tube being equipped with apertures leading to the interior of this container and respectively disposed near the bottom of the container and in av relatively higherportion of the tube; an annular seat mounted in the tube below the lower of the said apertures, a plunger slidably carried by the tube and normally seated b r ravit on the said seat and termi-.

nating at a point normally below the upper of the said apertures, the said plunger being adapted to close the lower of the said apertures when in, its normal position, and to open the said apertures when raised out of its normal position; and means carried by the plunger and accessible from the exterior of the appliance for raising the plunger out of its normal position.

2. A liquid measuring device as per claim into the said female thread and havinga; collar and a stem extending beyond the said collar substantially axially of the plunger, a gasket clamped between the said shoulder and the adjacent end of the plunger, and a cross-bar carried by the lower end of the said extension member and longer than the outside diameter of the tube, the tube being equipped with oppositely disposed slots extending longitudinally thereof for I permitting the ends of the said arm to pro j ect through the sides of the tube.

Signed at Chicago November 15th, 1918.

LE ROY M. SMITH. 

